North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week stuck to his script on the way to a state title

His friends call him boring.

The Ramsey baseball team has a pregame ritual when a game is played on a school day. The boys head out to lunch from the high school up Franklin Turnpike to La Gondola Pizzeria in the Ramsey Square shopping center about two miles from school.

And every time they go there, William Kirk orders the same thing: two plain slices and a bottle of water.

"They tease me all the time about that,'' Kirk said. "They say I'm boring, but I'm a pretty competitive person.''

The numbers bear Kirk out. The 6-2, 170 pound sophomore left-hander finished his season with a 6-1 record, a 1.56 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 56 innings. He also hit .443 with four home runs for the 28-4 Rams, who earned the school's first state group baseball championship last Saturday night.

Instead of styling himself as the next generation's Shohei Ohtani, however, Kirk would rather be known as the left-handed Jacob deGrom.

"I've been a Mets fan my whole life and no doubt my favorite player is deGrom,'' said Kirk. "We're both long and pretty skinny and we throw similarly, although I can't throw anywhere near 100 miles an hour.''

His long wavy hair gives him the same look deGrom had in his first few years with the Mets. Kirk loves the way deGrom carries himself out on the mound and he's patterned his own pre-pitch routine the same way the two-time Cy Young Award winner does his.

"I started holding my glove up in front of my face like does last year,'' says Kirk. "I want everyone to see the look in my eyes. I'm not very demonstrative on the mound but you can see my internal fire if you look into my eyes.''

Kirk started playing officially when he was 8 and in Little League. But his baseball experience started much earlier, playing in the backyard from when he was two or three with his brother and father, Shawn. Shawn was also a left handed pitcher, and was part of Ramsey's rotation when the Rams won back-to-back titles in the Bergen baseball championship in 1989 and 1990.

"I wear number 13 because that was his number in high school,'' Kirk said. "It's a lucky number for our family because my dad and mom got married on June 13.''

Kirk says his two main sports growing up were baseball and basketball, but he stopped playing hoops after his freshman year to concentrate on lifting weights and getting better on the mound. He admits he hasn't totally ruled out the idea of returning to the hardwood next winter.

And while he likes to hit, it's pitching that he thinks is his ticket to his dream of playing major league baseball.

That's not to say he doesn't have other talents.

This summer, in between summer tournaments in Boston, Georgia and Florida with his travel team, Northeast Supreme, he's taking up a new activity -- learning to play classical piano.

"I think playing an instrument is a cool talent, and my mom is teaching me Fur Elise (by Beethoven),'' Kirk said. "It's a good use of my time.''

Sometimes your friends are just wrong.

William Kirk

Sport: Baseball

School: Ramsey

Class: Sophomore. 

Age: 16

Accomplishment: He pitched a complete game victory in the group 2 state finals against Haddon Heights, striking out 13 in Ramsey's first ever 5-2 win. Playing right field in the semifinals earlier in the week he scored three runs and made three great catches in a win over Caldwell.

Also nominated: Max Zuckerman of Pascack Hills, Daniel Mikay of Demarest and Colin Graham of Dumont for track and field.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Record Male Athlete of the Week: William Kirk, Ramsey